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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Biggest bust/improvement: Donruss

Hey! It's Harold Reynolds again!

This is not a repeat. This is post number 2,001. I republished this card both as a reminder to enter the contest and as a lead-in to my next judging fiesta, namely, figuring out the biggest improvement and bust in the history of Donruss.

I don't think Donruss has as avid a following as the previous two brands we've compared, Topps and Upper Deck. I know I'm not crazy about many of the sets that Donruss produced over the years.

My personal Donruss favorites are 1984 and 1985. Plus, 1981 has sentimental value. I kind of like 1995, too. And 1988 and 1989 are actually growing on me. The rest you can put in a big boiling pot of ick.

The ones I don't like in the least are 1986, 1991, 1992 and 1996. I think I've mentioned before that 1986 horrified me from the moment I saw it and prevented me from buying any of it. I know I've mentioned before that if Fisher Price were to make card sets, they would look like 1991 Donruss. And, of course, 1992 Donruss is vile and nauseating, and 1996 has the most ridiculous logo placement ever.

So, if I was participating in this judge-off, the biggest improvement would be 1983 to 1984, with 1986 to 1987 as runner-up. The biggest bust would be 1985 to 1986, with 1995 to 1996 or 1982 to 1983 as runners-up.

But I'm not deciding this. You're deciding this.

A couple of other notes first:

1983 Donruss is the only set I can remember opening the first pack of and saying out loud, "Oh, come on! Really?" That's what I thought of '83 Donruss ripping off its own set from the previous year.

There is no 2000 Donruss set (I think). EDIT: There is no 1999 or 2000 Donruss set. For comparing sets, we'll have to compare 1998 to 2001.

So, now I'm looking for comments. What do you think are the biggest year-to-year improvements for Donruss and the biggest year-to-year busts? I'm looking for something like: "biggest improvement: 1989 to 1990," "biggest bust: 1997 to 1998."

Once I accumulate enough comments, I'll post a poll that includes the most nominated comparisons and people will get to vote on the all-time biggest bust and improvement in the history of the Donruss base set.

(For sanity's sake, I am not including any sets that Donruss makes these days or has made in the last few years. The cut-off is 2005).

To make your comparing easier, here's a handy look at every year of Donruss:

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Wow, that 2004 was pretty ugly, huh?

All right, time to make your selections in the comments. Give Donruss some love. If you can.

I personally was never a big fan of 1984. Its ok, I just never saw the big deal, other than a supposed scarcity. I stopped collecting around 1990, but I kinda like 1992. I too like 1981 for sentimental reasons, but I'll say:

1984 Donruss is the most overrated set since '52 Topps. The photography is terrible even for Donruss standards and the little swooshy things did not age well. 1985 Donruss beats it up, takes its lunch and then goes on a picnic with its sister. Plus you can get the Mattingly for 10-15 bucks now anyway.

Here's the 2000 Donruss scan I promised. Even if it's disqualified please at least put it in there for completeness sake. My OCD is acting up.http://cardjunk.blogspot.com/2012/05/2000-donruss-greg-maddux.html

Biggest bust--1987 to 1988. Probably because I opened a million packs of 88 and it makes me nauseous.

Biggest improvement--Not having Donruss to 1981. No, 1981 isn't the best set, but it was the first year I collected and we could find Donruss packs 8 for a $1. Pulling a Yogi Berra card out of a pack was mind boggling, even if it was a manager card.

Biggest improvement IMO is from 81-82, just because the 81 set is so terrible. You name it, and it is bad (cards printed on 3 x 5 card stock, blurry photos, etc.). 82 had a typewriter team name, but it was a BIG improvement over 81.

Biggest bust, I would have to say 90. People are still finding "errors" were the black line starts to go through the script name.

Biggest improvement: 1984 to 1985. As the Junkie said, '84 is overrated. It's not bad, but it's not earth-shattering either. 1985 was the bomb.

Biggest bust: 1987 to 1988. Even though I like '88, you can't deny that it's a major drop from the '87 design. Plus I think I had more trouble with keeping the corners sharp on '88 Donruss cards than any other year.